


Prisoner

by Daniscats, Joking611



Series: Cari'ssi'mi Drabbles [65]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Humor, Pregnancy, little blue children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 03:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20575952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniscats/pseuds/Daniscats, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joking611/pseuds/Joking611
Summary: Liara is not pleased about the restrictions placed upon her by Drs. Iadri and ChakwasShepard needs a way to distract her





	Prisoner

Liara sighed as she tossed the datapad onto the table by her bed. Then she crossed her arms in displeasure as she threw herself back onto her pillows in a similar motion. Her back reminded her almost immediately that the motion was not the most intelligent decision she’d made that day.

No matter. A twinge was nothing. Particularly when compared to the sudden obsession with her and her child’s health, which was just silly.

At nine months into her physical therapy, her progress was ahead of schedule. Most importantly, her transplant team had assured her that she was demonstrating no indication of rejection. Rejection was always a danger, considering the aggressive asari immune system. Liara knew that, and took her medication faithfully. They continued to adjust her anti-rejection medications as her body healed, and as she progressed through her therapy regimen. Liara had to smile at the thought of Iadri wanting her to take it easy due to her pregnancy, while her therapist kept telling her to “Use the goddess-dammed leg.” If she could reach the five year mark without rejecting the cloned tissue, she should finally be able to completely put her injury behind her.

Her other malady was going to be a concern far longer than just the next four years, she thought wryly. Not that pregnancy was a malady. After all, asari had been getting pregnant for as long as there had been asari! Iadri herself had been by to perform her daily prenatal checkup, Dr. Chakwas close behind, visiting at Shepard’s insistence. As always, Iadri had blandly informed her that her child was well, and reiterated her instruction that Liara was to relax as much as possible.

Not that Liara wouldn’t have known if anything was wrong long before the practitioner. Asteria was a regular presence in her mind now, a cherished bundle of emotion almost ready to make her entrance into the world. If anything, Iadri seemed bored by her pregnancy, not that Liara could blame her. Stretched resources notwithstanding, it seemed that all of Thessia was pregnant or recently a mother, and the estate was no exception. Iadri had probably delivered more children in the last year than she had in her entire career. Pregnancy had become one of the most common things on Thessia, yet here she was, still stuck in her suite and ‘avoiding stress’. Just thinking about what she _should_ be doing was adding more stress than her typical routine.

That said a lot, given her vocation.

Liara T’Soni was Head of a Great House, a war hero, the Shadow Broker, and only a trusted few knew that she was all three. That didn’t mean that she was above pouting when she was frustrated. Yes, she was very young to be having a child, but she was in excellent health. Asteria was in excellent health. The additional risk to her pregnancy caused by receiving her transplant was small, and Liara believed that Karin and Iadri were being inordinately cautious. Together, their white glove treatment, including their overly protective insistence that she exert herself as little as possible, had joined to create a perfect storm of boredom and uselessness.

Granted, the risk wasn’t zero. Given that even House T’Soni didn’t have infinite resources to face a medical emergency in this post-war galaxy, certain bondmates had added their demands onto a care regimen that was already conservative. As a result, not only was she confined to her suite (except for the few times a day when she walked around under the watchful eye of her physical therapist) but her Shadow Broker work had also been taken away from her.

Forcibly. In other circumstances, one might call it a coup. Sarah had recruited Miranda to lock her out of her own goddess-damned systems. When she tried to access her data remotely, Miranda was alerted and she sent Shepard, Her Jailer, to confiscate her omni-tool, exchanging it with a crippled replacement. It was so unfair. It had taken years of work and much violence to displace the last Shadow Broker. This time it had only taken one overly protective bondmate and one no-nonsense, cannot-be-reasoned-with assistant, to get the job done.

The Yagh would have laughed.

Now she was going almost out of her mind with boredom. There were only so many Prothean documentaries, most of them utter tripe, that she could watch. There were only so many archaeological papers on the Protheans, most equally awful drivel, that she could read. There was the growing body of vids and books about the War, but most were so inaccurate, biased, or narrow in scope that Liara couldn’t even bear to take them in. She still planned to write her own book regarding the War, a definitive retelling of the facts, but her normally supportive bondmate had simply laughed. “People are going to believe what they choose to believe,” she’d said with a hug to lessen the blow. Liara was going to do it anyway, but starting such a work would just be impossible with a new daughter. Perhaps in ten years. She amazed herself sometimes in how easily she’d fallen back into the mindset of multi-decade planning.

None of that was helpful anyway. What she really wanted to do in this exact moment was to get her hands dirty. She longed to go to one of the estate’s gardens and just plant something, especially since it appeared to be such a beautiful day out. The damage to Thessia’s atmosphere from the War had been pronounced, though not as bad as on some of the other worlds, and it had caused a noticeable drop in global temperatures and an increase in precipitation. Warm, sunny days such as this, even though it was late spring in Armali, had become a rarity worthy of celebration. She wanted nothing more than to bask in the promise of better days to come.

Her leg was fine. Her daughter was fine. Shepard wasn’t at the estate, and Miranda couldn’t leave the broker feeds long enough to round up one disobedient asari. _’Perfect.’_ Liara made her decision. She eased out of bed and walked the few steps to her hover chair. No sense in making it worse than it was going to be. She was certain to receive a lecture from Shepard, but this way she could argue that she had been careful and had not traveled unsupported.

She saw few members of the household about as she made her way through the residential wing of the house. She suspected that most had found excuses to select duties that took them outside as well.

She made her exit through the east entrance, to emerge close to the gardens. She received several sharp looks but no one tried to stop her. That didn’t mean that someone hadn’t notified Shepard the moment she’d been seen up and around. At least she didn’t run into Denai.

She made her way to one of the plots where flowers were being replanted after the rains. There were others present, kneeling in the dirt, planting flowers and pulling weeds. Gardening had always been an honorable way for asari to give to the future, one of the things that hadn’t been changed by the war.

Liara noticed Niocci among them, the estate’s horticulturist kneeling with the others as she efficiently pulled weeds. Their relationship was far different now than during Liara’s childhood, when the matron had been kept busy chasing her out of her mother’s favorite flowerbeds. It wasn’t their fault that they just happened to be above the site of what Liara had been convinced had been the largest ancient Prothean city on all of Thessia. Liara was still embarrassed about how much of a nuisance she had been to the house staff as a child.

Not that most would ever admit it openly.

“Good morning, Niocci. It is a beautiful day.”

The matron looked up at her name, smiling when she saw Liara.

“It is, Peeress,” she agreed. “I was afraid these flowers would not survive the rains we’ve seen.” She turned her attention back to the flowers. “I fear I may have been foolish to plant them, but with days like today I can allow myself to hope.” She moved to stand, ignoring Liara’s attempts to wave her off. “Is there something I can do for you, Lady Liara?”

“I’m fine, Niocci.” Liara chuckled a little at hearing the name this woman had first called her over a hundred years prior. Fortunately, she was one of very few to do so. “I was just hoping to do a little work. Enjoy the sunshine, get a little fresh air.”

Niocci looked at her appraisingly. “Is that wise, Peeress?”

“I am well, simply feeling a little confined, and weeding will help get my mind off it.” She showed her palms. “ And my hands are far too clean for my liking. Where do I start?”

“In that case”, Niocci smiled, “just pick a row. The replanting is nearly complete, but there are many weeds available for your attention.”

Liara locked her chair and stood up, walking to a mostly empty row before gingerly lowering herself to the ground. The process was neither fast, nor graceful. She might be healthy, but her ever increasing size made her awkward. It took her a moment to decide upon a position that was somewhat comfortable, and set to work.

The rays of Parnitha were a blanket of warmth on her scalp and shoulders as she became lost in her thoughts, her hands working by themselves, without conscious attention. Every once and a while her leg or her back started to ache and she would shift position. Even with that distraction, she felt wonderful to be out in the fresh air with the sun dancing on her skin.

Until, a shadow loomed over her, blocking out the light figuratively, and literally. She looked up, squinting, to find an irritated bondmate staring down on her.

“You’re home early”, Liara greeted weakly.

“It looks to me like I’m home too late”, Sarah responded. “I just don’t understand, Liara. Iadri keeps reminding you to take it easy, just for a few weeks. And yet, here you are.”

“Really, Shepard?” Liara found Sarah to be far easier to argue this point with than Iadri. “When have you ever stayed in bed when Karin told you to?”

“That was different. There was a war to fight. There’s no emergency now, and you can take all the time you need while we wait for our little squid to get here.”

“Don’t call her that,” responded Liara automatically. ‘We both know that even without an emergency to deal with, you never rested as much as your doctor told you to.” Laura smiled. “Perhaps I should ask Karin to see what she says?”

“If you really want to,” Shepard smiled right back. “It does seem like she’s having a great time with Iadri talking about state of the art asari medicine, as well as the “frontier” style of medicine she had to practice during the war. Even so, I bet if I asked she’d be happy to stay in the residence with us to make sure you were under her watchful eye 27 hours a day.”

Liara narrowed her eyes at her bondmate. “You wouldn’t dare!” She growled.

Sarah’s look said nothing more than that she would.

“Fine,” she admitted defeat.

“Here, let me help you up.”

“I am fine, Shepard,” replied Liara, overcome by the desire to demonstrate just how fine she was. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid.” She rose to her feet, her eyes never leaving Sarah’s while she used just enough biotics to keep the process from appearing difficult.

“I know what you did there.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“I know you’re bored, I got you something to help you pass the time. Earth never did tie into the extranet nearly as completely as the Alliance did, but they did upload a ton of entertainment content. The ‘International Cultural and Entertainment Archives,’ or something like that.” She shrugged. “Back home the kids just called it netvids, and the parents called it garbage. I tied your omni-tool into the library” She smiled like one of the aforementioned children with a new toy. “There are literally millions of shows and vids. Some go all the way back to the late 20th century on Earth. More than even an asari could hope to watch in her lifetime.”

“You know very well that I don’t like what passes for popular entertainment, especially when it comes to Earth programming.”

“Yes, I know, and yes, a lot of it is garbage but did you hear what I just said? There are millions of shows on there! It’s not all whatever passed for popular entertainment at the time. The library includes documentaries, educational programs, and award winning features. Just give it a chance.”

Liara only crossed her arms, saying nothing. Sarah just smiled at her and bent down to kiss her forehead.

“Denai and I have to finish up a few things in my office. Just buzz me if you need anything. Maybe we can watch something later after having dinner together? Like a date night?”

“Oh?” Liara responded sarcastically. “My jailer wants to have a date with me now? Will I be allowed to eat dinner at a table or am I going to be chained to this bed?”

“You’re more than a little grumpy, you know, but I can understand why. Once Asteria gets here and she is healthy and beautiful, you’re going to wish that you had the time to watch some silly vids just for fun.”

Liara watched as Shepard left. She then brought up her omni-tool to close “netvids”. She hesitated. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. She didn’t expect to find anything that would be worthwhile as entertainment, but she also realized that the shows were artifacts. They revealed clues about the cultures that produced them as much as any relic that she might find on one of her digs. It could be a fascinating glimpse into human culture and history. Perhaps it could provide insight into why humanity was the way it was, including its surprising and sometimes alarming behavior since the war ended.

Liara entered a search: archeology, sorted by date produced with the earliest dates first. After a little scrolling, she came upon something called Indiana Jones. There were several full-length vid features with the name as well as an episodic series. Apparently, the series went back to the Earth year 1981 and was about an ‘archeologist’ who would go on adventures around the planet looking for ‘priceless artifacts’.

Liara didn’t have very high expectations but she thought she might give it a try. She literally didn’t have anything better to do. Not while she was being held captive, anyway. She was the Head of House T’Soni and yet her entire House colluded in her confinement. Betrayal. Liara hit the play button.

She was encouraged when an ancient ruin showed up early on, but the vid quickly descended into absurdity. First, the main character was not so much an archeologist as he was a graverobber. He acted very much like those who located Prothean ruins, not to gain knowledge about how they lived or who they were as a people, but only to steal any technological relics that they could find. He paid absolutely no attention to context, and in her line of work, the context in which an artifact was found was everything. It was often more important than the relic itself. This ‘Dr. Jones’ blundered right in without any thought. She never even saw him take a single note! Liara seriously doubted the validity of the man’s credentials.

The ruins, apparently from a primitive and pre-industrial culture, were nonetheless full of traps and security devices designed to prevent anyone from looting. Again, it was nonsense. Yes, some technologically advanced ruins might have active security devices even many millennia later and admittedly, she might have trapped herself in such devices a time or two but these were primitive ruins from primitive cultures. The poisoned darts and giant rolling balls were just ludicrous. Liara started writing notes on her datapad.

Then, not far into the vid, Liara was stunned to see a group who were the 20th century equivalent of Cerberus. She read more about these Nazis as she watched the vid and was completely incredulous to learn that they were almost exactly like Cerberus and their actions in that time almost destroyed Earth culture just like Cerberus almost destroyed the galaxy two hundred years later. The same illogical thinking and in fact, the very same false argument, bringing humanity to the brink twice two hundred years apart. For not the first time, Liara couldn’t help but have serious doubts about the species that she married into.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Shepard hesitantly entered their suite, hoping that Liara would be over being angry with her. She knew that she was doing the right thing, and was sure her logical bondmate realized it as well. She was just cranky from the combination of being just over twenty months pregnant and dealing with her new leg. The timing of the leg could have been better, but considering the backlogged demand on cloning facilities after the war, they had to accept the schedule they were given.

Shepard turned the corner and found her bondmate on their bed, which was a good thing, but unexpectedly, Liara was so captivated by what she was watching that she didn’t notice her coming in.

“Hey, Honey”, Shepard said quietly. She still managed to make Liara jump a little. “Find something good to...”

“Shhhhh!” Liara scolded. “This is an important part!”

“Um, okay...”, Shepard muttered and then quietly moved over to her side of the bed. After she slowly climbed onto the bed so as not to disturb her apparently emotionally-involved bondmate, she joined Liara in watching the vid. She was dumbfounded.

The screen was a flurry of activity. In under the space of five minutes she was treated to an explosion, some gunfire, and a chase in some sort of early Earth ground vehicles. Her bondmate, whose PhD dissertation was over a thousand pages long, who scolded Shepard for reading popular novels for entertainment and who Shepard had believed had never watched a vid rated below 5 stars, was watching what appeared to be an action film. Shepard looked at Liara skeptically.

“Who are you and what have you done with my bondmate?”

“Sarah, please! If you cannot be quiet, then you can leave until this is over.”

Shepard rolled her eyes and bit her tongue. It was difficult to determine the plot but there were plenty of explosions and chase scenes. She watched the vid in silence until the credits appeared. Then she turned to face Liara.

“May I speak now, Benevolent One?”

“Do not be sarcastic, Shepard. I don’t interrupt when you are watching one of your vids. I needed to hear the dialogue.”

“There was dialogue?” She waved at the screen incredulously. “I can’t believe you watched that vid, let alone liked it.”

“It is actually a more intelligently constructed film than most of the vids I’ve seen come from Earth. It has well-developed characters and deals with deep universal themes. I found it fascinating.”

“Fascinating?! It was non-stop special effects and action! The guy in the leather jacket just ran around hitting things most of the time when he wasn’t running away from people trying to kill him.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t silly at times. They did get the archaeology completely wrong. I would have liked to have seen more of the different ancient cultures that were featured, but it was entertaining nonetheless.” “And fascinating,” she added after a moment’s consideration.

“Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. The lead guy, the one in the jacket, is supposed to be an archaeologist? An archaeologist adventurer or something?”

“Yes”, Liara answered definitively. “He fails miserably as an archaeologist. I would seriously look into his credentials if he were on my team. But then he is a human archaeologist with presumably only an Earth PhD.”

Liara laughed softly at her own joke.

“Well, if you want to know what I think, I think you only like this series because it has an archaeologist-adventurer in it. You identify with him even if you suspect that his credentials are lax. You see yourself as a kind of swashbuckling archaeologist-adventurer. Watching him was like watching you shoot geth on Ilos while trying to take images of the ruins at the same time.”

“That is nonsense, Shepard.” Liara rolled her eyes. “I don’t even know what that swashing word you used is and I definitely do NOT identify with the character. It’s just an entertaining well-produced vid, that’s all. You are hardly in the position to judge when you’ve only watched twenty minutes of one vid in the series.”

“How many are there?”

“Twenty-seven, including all the various reboots and remakes. The first was produced in the Earth year 1981 and the last was created right before the War, in 2185. I’m surprised you’ve never heard of them.”

“I was a little busy the last, oh, ten or fifteen years of my life. Not much time for vids.”

“Shepard, you’re a member of the Blasto fan club,” Liara pointed out judgingly.

“So, shall we watch another so I can see for myself what a masterpiece it is?” Sarah deflected.

“Only if you can be quiet.”


End file.
